Of course in every civilization there are hierarchies and within those hierarchies are those above and those below. The two most powerful angels who sat at the left and right hand of God were Lucifer and Metatron. Then there were the archangels. Micheal angel of great power. She is a fighter and a protector. Then there is Gabriel the one who brings great messages and good news. Raphael the angel of healing who comforts all those he meets. Uriel an angel of light one who brings God's light to the darkest corners of the universe. Sealtiel the angel of a listening ear. He is the angel who listens to the prayers of the masses. Jegudiel the glorifier of God and the one who brings celebration and worship of God to all she meets. She is the celestial harmonies conductor of heaven. Barachiel is the angel who gives out blessings to those who seek God's face. He is the angel who gives rise to the crops and pure weather for harvest. And finally Jerahmeel the angel of God's exaltation. She makes sure in nature and in the works of people God is known and seen.
All other angels were placed beneath these angels in their respective places. Many could work for more than one in their eternal lifetimes. The angel mentioned in the last chapter is a Principality that is below all the other angels including Seraphim, Cherubim, Dominions, Virtues, and Powers. He was placed under the command of Gabriel. Now let the story begin.
The angel waited in line for his turn to be given a name and a task to aid in the creation. He grasped his hands tightly in order to prevent them from shaking uncontrollably. The space was rather empty and could be mistaken for an office building. Pure white clouds and windows blocked out by heavy light fog that only allowed a few trails of pure light into the room. Rows of angels stood in lines upon lines awaiting their assignments. At the front of the lines stood the archangels waiting with uniforms, holy objects and clipboards.
With what seemed like an eternity the angel finally made it to the front of the line. There stood Uriel. She had flawless dark skin that reflected the night sky. Her lips were in a firm tight line as she stared at the angel and then back down at the clipboard moving her pen down the paper and hummed to herself. She raised her eyes to examine the angel once more before looking down once more. Without looking up she pointed the end of the sharp pen to her left.
"You are to be used by Gabriel over on the far left next to the archangel Micheal. I have enough Principalities in my legion." She said with a particularly dry and icy tone as someone who had worked day and night on a project they themselves despised. The way she said Principalities was as though she was speaking about a rodent. It was then the angel knew his place.
The angel nodded but not before giving a small thank you and smile. Uriel did not look up and gave a small sigh as a response. An angel not worth much time to her. But if this were to get this angel down one be sorry to mistakenly think so.
He slowly moved over to the line of Gabriel offering small excuse me's and pardon me's before reaching the winding line. The angels all pointed to the back of the line. The angel attempted not to let disappointment cloud his face and instantly moved towards the end of the line. He stood with almost perfect posture making sure his feet were pointed at a thirty-degree angle. His hands folded properly behind his back and his chest puffed out. He may have been wearing a pathetic excuse for a toga but that did not mean he was going to look like a slacker. He held his head high and slowly scanned around the rows of angels. So many different faces. So many shades of colors. The Almighty had really outdone herself.
Time passed by and the second day of Creation had almost come to a close when the angel finally reached the front of the line. He kept perfect posture throughout making sure he stood out and did not want to be thought of as lazy or lacking. Gabriel looked up from the clipboard slowly lifting his eyes a light shade of violet. He motioned for the angel to put his hands at his side. The angel attempted to not show his fear.
Gabriel placed the clipboard behind his feet and moved closer to the angel. So close their noses almost touched. He circled the angel like a shark waiting for a fishing boat to drop the leftover fish into the water. After doing this three times he stood behind the angel. He then took his thumbs and pressed against the angel's shoulder blades on each side. It took everything in the angel not to flinch when he did so. He then moved his index finger along his spine slowly under it reached his tailbone. He then circled around to face the angel.
The angel continues to look forward and attempted to make eye contact but Gabriel was too focused. He placed both his large hands against the angel's shoulders then moved his index fingers along the collarbone until they found each other. He then placed his right index finger on his chin and slowly moved down the neck to the collarbone. He then looked into the angel's eyes.
"Look to the left, now the right, inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth, now do the opposite, smile, frown, open your mouth, stick out your tongue, close your mouth." He said with lazy hand motions and the angel did them all with precision and flair.
Gabriel took his middle and index finger and placed them vertically in the center of the angel's chest. He then moved his palms to feel the angel's stomach to which he grunted in disapproval.
"A bit of a gut but not anything a few training exercises and some hardcore workouts can't fix." He mumbled to himself as though he were convincing himself to purchase a bruised fruit at the marketplace.
He then told the angel to move his legs and arms in all sorts of directions and also asked him to do a variety of exercises like attempting to touch his toes or do jumping jacks. The angel was terrified because no matter what he did it felt like he could never read the face of the angel before him if he was passing these tests or failing miserably. It would be a terrible thing to fail at being the very thing he was assigned to do especially on the first day of his existence of all things.
After this Gabriel picked up the clipboard in a swift motion and flipped three pages before asking the angel a series of questions:
"What angel are you?"
"A Principality is the lowest ranking angel sir. I am below the Seraphim, Cherubim, Dominions, Virtues, and Powers sir."
"What does a Principality do?"
"Principalities are angels that guide and protect, inspire living things in art and science, and carry out orders given to them by the upper sphere angels sir."
"Which are?"
"The archangels such as you sir."
"Who created this world you see around you?"
"The Almighty sir."
Gabriel nodded and furrowed his brow to concentrate on the clipboard.
He then placed the clipboard behind him once more before placing his left thumb upon the angel's soft forehead. The angel's throat felt like it was going to close as he felt a wave of overwhelming sadness and pain. It was as though there was a blue mist within in him turning the entire world into grey.
"Don't cry," Gabriel whispered harshly as though his tongue were made of venom. The angel looked forward forcing all of his facial muscles to stay relaxed and to not shed a tear.
Then the blue was replaced with a hot fiery red of boiling rage. The angel looked forward telling himself to ignore the feeling. To suppress it.
Gabriel let out a small grunt that was hard to read before bending behind him to pick the clipboard up once more. He tapped the clipboard three times with the edge of his pen before letting out a small chuckle and a content smile.
He looked back up at the angel his eyes now a darker shade of purple resembling a fine wine from Italy to display his amusement.
"You are assigned to me but yet you have a name that is more befitting of Raphael over there." He motioned towards his right where the other archangels were standing around. Micheal was the only one on his left.
"Aziraphale." He said with a snicker. "Your name is Aziraphale."
He tucked the clipboard under his right arm and snapped his fingers. Three books appeared in his hands and he placed them into the angel's who now had an identity. Aziraphale. Of Raphael. He liked the way it sounded. Gentle but yet feisty at the same time.
"You will be assisting with the pines of the pine trees tomorrow for the third day of creation. Read those books. They are the books of law, prophecy, and mannerisms of an angel."
He beamed at Aziraphale once more.
"I like you already Aziraphale. If an angel with a name like you was assigned to me then you must be meant to stand out. Principality or not I feel something special in you."
It took everything in Aziraphale to not jump for joy at hearing this. Gabriel sent him on his way and he moved with the other angels towards the clouds they were assigned for the second night of the universe's existence.
It was this night he discovered his second true love as the first was for the Almighty always. Reading. He could think and imagine and dream when he read. Escape the worries of the many tasks. It was so much easier to follow a manual and know what all the details were to entail of his duties as a Principalities.